You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under chapter
552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 127137.

The City of Llano (the city) received a request for all information concerning the work and
job performance of a former city employee, Mr. Frank Salvato, and for a specific settlement
agreement involving the city and Stacey Nobles. You state that you will release much of the
requested information. You also inform us that you have released other documents with
portions redacted which reflect the employee's social security number, home address and
phone, and family member information. Because you do not seek to withhold the requested
settlement agreement, we presume that this document, if it exists, will be provided to the
requestor. You claim that the city must withhold certain portions of the requested
information under sections 552.101, 552.102, 552.117, and 552.130 of the Government
Code. You have provided this office for review the information you seek to withhold. You
have specifically marked the information you seek to withhold and indicated with particularity
which exception is applicable.

You first claim the portions of the submitted documents and six documents in their entirety
must be withheld under section 552.101. Section 552.101 excepts from disclosure
"information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by
judicial decision." This section encompasses information protected by other statutes. First,
federal tax return information, including employee W-4 forms, are confidential under federal
law. 26 U.S.C. § 6103(a). Therefore, the city must withhold federal tax return information.
Open Records Decision No. 600 (1992). Second, one of the documents you submitted to this
office for review is an Employment Eligibility Verification, Form I-9. Form I-9 is governed
by title 8, section 1324a of the United States Code, which provides that the form "may not
be used for purposes other than for enforcement of this chapter" and for enforcement of other
federal statutes governing crime and criminal investigations. 8 U.S.C. § 1324a(b)(5); see 8
C.F.R. § 274a.2(b)(4). Release of this document under the Public Information Act would be
"for purposes other than for enforcement" of the referenced federal statutes. Accordingly,
the Form I-9 is confidential under section 552.101 and may only be released in compliance
with the federal laws and regulations governing the employment verification system.

Section 552.101 also encompasses common-law and constitutional privacy. Common-law
privacy excepts from disclosure private facts about an individual. Industrial Found. v. Texas
Indus. Accident Bd., 540 S.W.2d 668 (Tex. 1976), cert. denied, 430 U.S. 931 (1977).
Information may be withheld from the public when (1) it is highly intimate and embarrassing
such that its release would be highly objectionable to a person of ordinary sensibilities, and
(2) there is no legitimate public interest in its disclosure. Id. at 685; Open Records Decision
No. 611 at 1 (1992).

The constitutional right to privacy protects two interests. Open Records Decision No. 600
at 4 (1992) (citing Ramie v. City of Hedwig Village, 765 F.2d 490 (5th Cir. 1985), cert.
denied, 474 U.S. 1062 (1986)). The first is the interest in independence in making certain
important decisions related to the "zones of privacy" recognized by the United States
Supreme Court. Open Records Decision No. 600 at 4 (1992). The zones of privacy
recognized by the United States Supreme Court are matters pertaining to marriage,
procreation, contraception, family relationships, and child rearing and education. See id.

The second interest is the interest in avoiding disclosure of personal matters. The test for
whether information may be publicly disclosed without violating constitutional privacy rights
involves a balancing of the individual's privacy interests against the public's need to know
information of public concern. See Open Records Decision No. 455 at 5-7 (1987) (citing
Fadjo v. Coon, 633 F.2d 1172, 1176 (5th Cir. 1981)). The scope of information considered
private under the constitutional doctrine is far narrower than that under the common law; the
material must concern the "most intimate aspects of human affairs." See Open Records
Decision No. 455 at 5 (1987) (citing Ramie v. City of Hedwig Village, 765 F.2d 490, 492
(5th Cir. 1985), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1062 (1986)).

This office has found that the following types of information are excepted from required
public disclosure under constitutional or common-law privacy: some kinds of medical
information or information indicating disabilities or specific illnesses, see Open Records
Decision Nos. 470 (1987) (illness from severe emotional and job-related stress), 455 (1987)
(prescription drugs, illnesses, operations, and physical handicaps), and personal financial
information not relating to the financial transaction between an individual and a governmental
body, see Open Records Decision Nos. 600 (1992), 545 (1990), and information concerning
the intimate relations between individuals and their family members. See Open Records
Decision No. 470 (1987). We have reviewed the information you have marked and agree that
three pages must be withheld in their entirety. Open Records Decision Nos. 600 (1992)
(personal financial information), 455 (1987) (specific medical information) You additionally
claim that one of these pages is protected from disclosure under the Medical Practices Act,
article 4495b of Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes. See Open Records Decision No. No. 598
(1991). Because we make a determination under common-law privacy, we need not address
this argument. We have marked the information that must be withheld under a right of
privacy.

You have also marked certain information that must be withheld under section 552.117.
Section 552.117 of the Government Code provides that information may be withheld if it is:

information that relates to the home address, home telephone
number, social security number, or that reveals whether the following
person has family members:

* * * *

(2) a peace officer as defined by Article 2.12, Code of
Criminal Procedure, or a security officer commissioned under Section
51.212, Education Code.

You explain that the former employee is a peace officer. You must withhold, under section
552.117, the information that you have marked that reveals the peace officer's home address,
home telephone number, social security number, and family member information. Code Crim.
Proc. art. 2.12; Open Records Decision Nos. 532 (1989), 530 (1989); see Open Records
Decision No. 622 (1994).

Finally, you claim that some of the requested information must be withheld under section
552.130. Section 552.130 provides in relevant part as follows:

(a) Information is excepted from the requirement of Section 552.021 if the
information relates to:

(1) a motor vehicle operator's or driver's license or permit
issued by an agency of this state[.]

* * * *

(b) Information described by Subsection (a) may be released only if, and in the
manner, authorized by Chapter 730, Transportation Code.

You must withhold the information you have marked under section 552.130.

We are resolving this matter with an informal letter ruling rather than with a published open
records decision. This ruling is limited to the particular records at issue under the facts
presented to us in this request and should not be relied upon as a previous determination
regarding any other records. If you have questions about this ruling, please contact our
office.